BARCELONA, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Longines FEI Nations Cup jumping final will open here on Thursday with the world's best 15 teams participating.
The teams will compete in the first round not against the clock on Thursday and the top eight teams qualify for the final and the rest seven teams move on to the Challenge Cup.
New Zealand was drawn to be the first to perform, followed by Netherlands, Switzerland, UAE, Britain, Belgium, Ireland, United States, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Brazil, Germany and Canada.
The champion will be decided on Saturday.
"Well at least when our first horse leaves the arena we'll be in the lead," said Helena Stormanns, manager of New Zealand.
Defending champions Germany are defending champions and their manger Henrich Hermann Engemann was happy with their 14th starting slot.
"We'll have time to see the other teams and we'll know what we have to do," he said.
